Senegal president postpones election hours before official campaign start | Senegal

Senegal’s president, Macky Sall, has announced the indefinite postponement of a presidential election scheduled for 25 February a few hours before official campaigning was due to start, provoking anger from opposition figures and a ministerial resignation.

In an address to the nation on Saturday, Sall said he had postponed the vote that would have decided his successor because of a dispute between the national assembly and constitutional court over the rejection of candidates.

Lawmakers are investigating two constitutional council judges whose integrity in the election process has been questioned.

“I will begin an open national dialogue to bring together the conditions for a free, transparent and inclusive election,” Sall added, without giving a new date.

Under Senegal’s election code, at least 80 days must pass between the publication of the decree setting the date and the election, so the earliest a vote could now be held is late April.

Just hours after Sall’s announcement, Abdou Latif Coulibaly, the secretary general of the government who has acted as its spokesman, announced his resignation. He was quitting because he wanted to have “full and complete freedom” to defend his political convictions.

This is the first time a Senegalese presidential election has been postponed and adds to growing political tension.

The west African bloc Ecowas expressed “concern over the circumstances that have led to the postponement of the elections”, calling for dialogue and an expedited process to set a new date.

The US state department also urged Senegal to “swiftly” set a date for a “timely, free and fair election”.

A November 2023 decree signed by Sall had set the election for 25 February with 20 candidates in the running but two major opposition figures excluded.

One opposition leader, Thierno Alassane Sall, denounced what he called “high treason towards the Republic” and called on “patriots and republicans” to oppose it.

Sall had designated the prime minister, Amadou Ba, from his party as his would-be successor after announcing he would not run for a third term. Sall reiterated on Saturday that he would not be a candidate.